Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media upon arriving at the airport Wednesday in Atlanta, Georgia. Trump is visiting Atlanta for a campaign fundraising event he is hosting.
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Megan Varner/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media upon arriving at the airport Wednesday in Atlanta, Georgia. Trump is visiting Atlanta for a campaign fundraising event he is hosting.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
This week, Donald Trump disappointed opponents of abortion rights by not mentioning a federal ban in his highly anticipated abortion policy announcement.
Now he’s going further: He’s telling reporters in Atlanta that he wouldn’t sign a federal ban, even if one came to his desk.
Responding to a shouted question about whether he would sign a ban if Congress passed one, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee shook his head and said “no” twice.
Trump says Arizona ruling on abortion went too far: ‘Yes, they did, and it will be fixed.’ »
Also tell @ABC he would not sign a national abortion ban as president. pic.twitter.com/wQdByVodtv
– Lalée Ibssa (@LaleeIbssa) April 10, 2024
This is another turning point in Trump’s long history of changing stances on abortion rights. As president, Trump supported a 20-week federal ban on abortion and in recent weeks has said he is open to a 15-week delay.
Even before that, when he was running for president in 2016, he said at one point that women seeking abortions should receive “some form of punishment.”
In his remarks to reporters Wednesday, Trump also addressed the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to allow a near-total ban dating back to 1864 to go ahead.
Asked if the state court went too far, Trump replied: “Yes, they did, and that will be fixed.”
He was also asked about the recent decision in his home state of Florida to allow a 6-week ban to go into effect. In response, Trump suggested he wanted Arizona and Florida to ease their restrictions on abortion. But while criticizing those states’ bans, he also said he supports states’ rights to decide their own abortion policies.
“Now the states have it and they broadcast what they want. It’s the will of the people,” he said. “So Florida is probably going to change, Arizona is definitely going to change, everyone wants it to happen.”
Since the overthrow of Roe v. Wade, abortion rights have repeatedly won statewide ballot measures. Additionally, abortion has been shown to motivate voters in state legislative elections. Florida and Arizona will likely see a question about abortion access on their ballots this fall.
It is in this spirit that the Biden campaign attacked Trump on abortion rights throughout his campaign. The Biden campaign released a statement in response to Trump’s remarks on Wednesday.
“Donald Trump is responsible for the suffering and chaos currently reigning, including in Arizona, because he proudly overthrew Roe deer – something he called ‘an incredible thing’ and ‘pretty incredible’ today,” said communications director Michael Tyler.
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